‘Rhino poaching kingpins’ arrested in SA

Two suspected leaders of rhino poaching have been arrested in South Africa in what is considered a breakthrough in the fight against illegal trade.

It is believed that the South African men, aged 37 and 38, had been operating from the world-famous Kruger National Park.

They have appeared in court accused of illegally buying four rhinoceros horns.

The South African national parks spokesman, Fundisile Mketeni, welcomed the advance saying: “We’re in a campaign to save our wildlife. We have a strategy and come 2019, we want to see the number of rhino killed annually to under 400.”

The number of rhinos killed in 2017 was 1,028.

But the problem goes beyond rhino poaching. A total of 47 elephants have already been killed this year because of their tusks.